Several dozen taxi drivers sacrificed a few hours of fares Thursday to march around New Orleans City Hall, protesting against sweeping regulations that will kick in the next time their vehicles are inspected. Carrying placards and chanting, many drivers said they were suspicious that city government wanted to quash independent cabs in favor of companies that can afford to enact the costly upgrades. Emanuel Wilson, who has been driving a taxi for 29 years, said city regulators didn't understand the damage they are doing to taxi drivers' livelihoods. "They know as much about cabs as I know about being a midwife," he said.

New Orleans taxi cabs wait for fares at the New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal on July 30. David Grunfeld, The Times-Picayune

But the new rules, which percolated from Mayor Mitch Landrieu's office and have survived a test in federal court, are meant to bring up New Orleans' aging, patchwork fleet to a level that rivals those of other major cities, Landrieu spokesman Ryan Berni said.

Starting Monday, the city's roughly 1,600 cabs will have to be equipped with air conditioning, surveillance cameras, credit card machines and global positioning devices. Those that don't will fail their next biannual inspection. The vehicles also will need to be no older than 11 years, with that age limit reduced even further to seven years in 2014.

"We thought that was something attainable," Berni said.

But cabbies have disagreed, grumbling over the $20,000 price tag that some of them associate with buying a newer vehicle. A 1957 Chevrolet would make a fine ride for a tourist coming into New Orleans, so long as it's in mint shape, Wilson said.

"It shouldn't be the age of the cab; it should be the condition," he said, pointing to several well-washed vehicles rolling past and honking in solidarity.

Berni said the new age limits were less restrictive than those enforced in other cities, adding that elected officials had rolled the limits to 11 years from 10 as a compromise with the cabbies.

Don Sykes, another driver, worried that the independent drivers, some living fare to fare, couldn't afford the new equipment before their next inspections.

"We have no problem with being upgraded, but it has to be phased in," he said.

Deputy Mayor Michelle Thomas countered that taxi drivers knew the changes were coming since talks began with the Landrieu administration in 2010. After the council enacted the ordinances in April, they were challenged in local and federal courts. U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon lifted a restraining order against the regulations last month, but did give taxi drivers one major concession.

The city wanted to control taxi permits, known as certificates of public necessity and convenience, or CPNCs. The administration argued that the permits were privileges, not rights, a distinction that would let the government revoke them or decide who could buy one. Fallon disagreed, saying essentially that the CPNCs belong to the cabbies.

Drivers typically purchase their CPNCs from other drivers or pay rent to non-drivers who own them. The city used to cap the number of permits at about 1,600, but that moratorium ended before Landrieu took office, Berni said. Still, there are no plans to issue new ones, he added.

Though Fallon's ruling came just over a month ago, Thomas said that drivers should have been working toward complying with the new rules all along.

"Those who chose to wait until the federal judge made a decision in the city's favor made a poor business decision," she said.

Longtime driver Gunasekara Niran saw a double standard. He had a receipt from paying for his inspection in March, but said the city had lost his paperwork and still hadn't approved it.

"If they cannot clean their house, how can they make us clean our house?" he said.